mdvle Posted August 15, 2019 Share Posted August 15, 2019 7 hours ago, Zomboid said: I imagine Stadler could do a 125mph FLIRT bi-mode too. But politically, keeping Newton Aycliffe in work for a little longer might be a significant factor. The FLIRT's have apparently had issues to, which isn't necessarily a reason to rule them out - it certainly seems all the new trains have struggled to enter service and that would be another reason to go with one of the 3 current new items rather than something different. Against the FLIRT might just simply be that no one in First Group have experience, the idea that an 800 or 397 could allow transfer of knowledge between First franchise employees easier. Perhaps from a modeller perspective we should hope for either the 397 or FLIRT in the hope that the additional operator makes a model version more viable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-b Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 (edited) What would Transport for Wales say about extra services on there patch. It works well at the moment for them to feed the traffic from Gobowen up to crewe for Pendolinos to take you to Euston? Also why is it always seemed everyone wants to travel to London. Ludlow handles more passengers then Gobowen, let's have a direct service to London from there! Edited August 17, 2019 by matt-b Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ian Hargrave Posted August 17, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 17, 2019 1 hour ago, matt-b said: What would Transport for Wales say about extra services on there patch. It works well at the moment for them to feed the traffic from Gobowen up to crewe for Pendolinos to take you to Euston? Also why is it always seemed everyone wants to travel to London. Ludlow handles more passengers then Gobowen, let's have a direct service to London from there! Has Ludlow in fact ever had the facility of a direct service to London ? Presumably as ever you have to travel via Hereford to Paddington or Shrewsbury to Euston.As I remember,Ludlow was a town on the West to North line.Expresses did not stop there..Now it has a frequent service by TfW. I’m afraid the same case could be made for many other large centres of population across the UK.Just a legacy of how the railways were constructed in the 19thc. My own home town ,Burton on Trent,is a classic example of this and there are many others which can be quoted I am sure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium corneliuslundie Posted August 17, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2019 " What would Transport for Wales say about extra services on there patch. It works well at the moment for them to feed the traffic from Gobowen up to crewe for Pendolinos to take you to Euston?" A good question, whether via Chester or via Shrewsbury. But presumably DafT thought about that when agreeing the franchise - though of course they now don't have any say in TfW so perhaps they don't care. Equally, what is to stop GWR extending its Hereford service along the Marches line and siphoning off TfW traffic from stations north of Hereford? Perhaps best not to suggest it. Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 On the other hand extra services, to more locations, and more capacity, will be provided from TfW stations, and surely that is what everyone wants, indeed demands, from the railway ? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdvle Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, caradoc said: On the other hand extra services, to more locations, and more capacity, will be provided from TfW stations, and surely that is what everyone wants, indeed demands, from the railway ? Yes, more service is what is wanted. The question really is in the financial impact - does the extra west coast services take away revenue that TfW needs/was budgeting for to offset some of the losses from other services. This in the end is one of the side effects of a fragmented railway, where a change has the potential to financially benefit one operator while penalizing another. In this case I have no idea what the effect will be, but there is the possibility that this could cost TfW money. Edited August 18, 2019 by mdvle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 (edited) On 18/08/2019 at 07:04, corneliuslundie said: What would Transport for Wales say about extra services on there patch. It works well at the moment for them to feed the traffic from Gobowen up to crewe for Pendolinos to take you to Euston?" A good question, whether via Chester or via Shrewsbury. The media release said Gobowen would be an extension of the existing Wrexham General service and only one per day from December 2022. I'm still puzzled about why such a small village (even taking into account Oswestry) would need a direct service to London via Wrexham and Chester when extending the Shewsbury service would be faster and get to London earlier. EDIT: Unless it's a salami tactic to win favour with the Welsh Assembly as a means to an end, but to what end? Cheers David Edited August 19, 2019 by DavidB-AU 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted August 19, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 19, 2019 As a resident of the North West I am sorry to see Virgin Trains go. Locally I have the choice of three train operators, Northern- hope the train runs, TPE - unreliable and uncomfortably overloaded Virgin - pretty reliable, good on board, good staff and excellent at sorting out any problems. I am concerned that the new operator will bring things down to the level of the other two. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted August 22, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 22, 2019 I'll be sad to see Virgin go, whilst not perfect for the most part they've done an excellent job IMO. Customer service is good, trains tend to be well looked after and service levels good. I hope the new operator does a better job than LNWR, who inherited a fleet of immaculate Desiro sets and seems to have allowed them to degenerate into a filthy mess. 3 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 I am looking forward to my Glasgow trip next year but am worried that the First offer might not match Virgin ,one thing that should be improved is the hot meal be reinstated on departure from Glasgow.I wonder what form the refurb will be, hope the interiors will be brightened not bothered about external livery so lets hope that imagination is used and the result has wow factor. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Who is in the bidding for the HS2 trains? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 20, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 20, 2019 20 minutes ago, ess1uk said: Who is in the bidding for the HS2 trains? You mean build them or operate them? If operate, it should be the current WCML franchise i.e. First Group, if it gets built during their tenure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 1 hour ago, melmerby said: You mean build them or operate them? If operate, it should be the current WCML franchise i.e. First Group, if it gets built during their tenure. Building the trains Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher125 Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 On 20/09/2019 at 19:55, ess1uk said: Who is in the bidding for the HS2 trains? https://www.railengineer.co.uk/2019/06/11/the-5-bidders-for-hs2-train-order-reveal-their-designs/ Bombardier/Hitachi, Alstom, Siemens, CAF and Talgo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2019 A final farewell video from virgin trains (complete with stereotypical trainspotter) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2019 14 minutes ago, big jim said: A final farewell video from virgin trains (complete with stereotypical trainspotter) Cringeworthy 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2019 39 minutes ago, big jim said: A final farewell video from virgin trains (complete with stereotypical trainspotter) I wonder what sort of state the West Coast franchise sectrion of the pension fund is in? Presumably a healthy surplus if the bearded one's smile is to be believed? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 Shame to see them go always had a good experience with them and the staff were brilliant friendly helpful and looked after you extremely well .thanks to everyone and hope the future works out.Be interesting to see Firsts offering and fares watch this space. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 59 minutes ago, melmerby said: Cringeworthy Typical Virgin then! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 21 minutes ago, lmsforever said: Shame to see them go always had a good experience with them and the staff were brilliant friendly helpful and looked after you extremely well .thanks to everyone and hope the future works out.Be interesting to see Firsts offering and fares watch this space. The staff will be staying, they will just get a new, cheap uniform and the trains will get some new vinyls, First cant really change many fares as they are regulated. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2019 one thing i do know is you cant collect nectar points after the franchise change! ive got a 1st class ticket booked for the family for 22nd dec to go to london, be interesting to see if there are any changes to the customer service side of things, we normally go on a virgin family ticket which is £110 for 2 adults and 2 kids return crewe to london however i managed to get a 1st class family single for £100 and the return trip (on the quicker virgin service) for £30 for the 4 of us, worth the extra £20 to have a treat on the way down there (cant afford both ways!), it would be a shame if first were to get rid of the likes of the family ticket as it is very good value (although my eldest is 16 next year so we wont be eligable for them!) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2019 I wonder what the branding will settle down as? First LMS, complete with maroon coaches? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 9 minutes ago, melmerby said: First LMS, complete with maroon coaches? Replacing Virgin red with crimson lake would be close enough. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, DavidB-AU said: Replacing Virgin red with crimson lake would be close enough. Cheers David The Virgin branding has already been removed from some (all?) Pendos, which are running around "naked" in all over white. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted November 21, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2019 (edited) Duplicate - removed Edited November 21, 2019 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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